Ties That Bind, Ties That Break
by Vindicated Irony
Summary: Sometimes you forge bonds that never break, sometimes you forge some that are destined to be broken. Over one-hundred and ten years ago my life was great, but then the threads holding us together snapped, just like that. OCs
1. The Beginning

**I only own my OCs.**

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

When one thinks of family, it's only natural that in most cases the things that come to mind are brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, and like relations. That's all well and good, and true as can be; but there are other bonds that can constitute as 'family.'

A common dictionary term for family – a noun, mind you – is "a group of related people." This, I think, is a rather vague – but fitting – definition.

My family is small and held together by bonds not forged from blood, but we function just as if it were. This small family of mine began as a duo many years ago in Rukon District Sixty-five – it was made up of me, Tsubasa Fukui, and by 'bother' Isamu Ueda.

This 'family' that I keep speaking of has both grown and shrank as time has passed, and those losses were truly painful. But how could they not be when –

Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself. Telling you _that_ right now would ruin the story and leave you wondering why. It would be both a spoiler and a cliffhanger, and I doubt that would be something anyone would truly enjoy.

So, how about I swing back the pendulum to the beginning of my story, a story that starts over a hundred years ago – I couldn't tell you how many years exactly, I'm not the best at keeping track – at the Shin'ō, or Spiritual Arts, Academy.

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

**The Beginning**

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

"This uniform doesn't fit right," I whined as I flapped my arms, the oversized sleeves billowing as I did.

"You have abnormally long legs," Isamu drawled, a teasing smirk on his face, "That's why you had to get a bigger size. Unless you like looking like you're growing out of your clothes."

"This isn't _too_ much better you know," but it was better, I did have admit that. If I'd gotten a smaller uniform the sleeves and pants legs would have been too short, on the other hand I now looked like I was wearing bigger clothes to hide my body.

It was lose-lose either way, really.

"Isamu," my 'brother' of sorts turned his blue eyes to me, "We have dorm mates, don't we?"

There was a moment of silence before he replied, "Yeah, we do."

Both of us looked at our respective dorm buildings, their walls towering over us much like the rest of the buildings on campus. My voice was resigned as I spoke, "Well, here's hoping it's not a snooty noble."

Despite the worries most others probably had upon coming to The Academy, nobles of the snooty variety probably weren't their main concerns. For me, it wasn't so much of a concern in the terms of classmates and such, but as a dorm mate. Nobles, in general, looked down upon us that were from the districts farther out; to them, the farther away you lived, the wilder and more uncouth you were.

I'll be the first to admit that, yeah, people out in District Sixty-five were rough. Life was rough there and I didn't want to be harassed about it in the confines of my own room. A perfectly viable reason, if I said so myself.

"Aa," Isamu grunted before shuffling off to find his room assignment.

"Well, goodbye to you too," my call was sarcastic and earned me an over the shoulder wave that brought a lopsided smile to my face, "Well, here we go… let's just get this shit over with."

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

The rooms were quaint, and much nicer than some of the places Isamu and I had stayed in. There were two beds, two small dresser-desks with chairs to accompany them, a lamp on each one, and a trunk at the end of each bed. Not really wanting to bother with anything, I just threw my small bag on the right bed before moving forward to look out the window.

"Huh," my eyes flashed from tree to tree, "Not a bad view."

I'd – we'd, I suppose – gotten a room with a pretty decent view of the courtyard. There were benches for studying and chatting and several nice and shady trees littered in the green grass.

The soft grating of the door sliding open announced the arrival of my roommate.

"Oh," my own brown eyes met the wide, startled indigo eyes of the girl in the doorway, "You must be my dorm mate." She bowed shortly, her long dark brown hair cascading over her shoulder. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Honoka Akiyama."

"Eh, no need to be so formal," my voice had an outer district lilt to it, a lilt I hadn't noticed until I compared it to speech patterns from the upper districts, "I'm Tsubasa Fukui, you can just call me Tsubasa."

Honoka looked startled, her doe eyes fluttering about, "I-I couldn't possibly do that! How can I when I don't know you that well!"

I had to stifle a groan in the back of my throat; nobles were just so stuck up. Regardless of her apparent upper class status I wasn't going to put on impeccable manners, "Suit yourself, Honoka-san."

Once again, the girl looked flustered and her eyes were wide, but she wasn't insulted. Perhaps she wasn't part of that upper echelon that was filled with judgmental nobles.

"I'll tell you this now, Honoka-san," her eyes darted up to meet mine, "I'm not a noble, not anywhere close to it. I'm not going to be rude without cause, nor am I going to go out of my way to be polite. Fair warning."

"Ah, I understand, it'll just take some time for me to get used to you," she twiddled her fingers in front of her and her cheeks reddened, "I'm not very good with new people in general, b-but I'm sure we can become great friends Fukui-san!"

I could feel my eyebrows shoot up; this girl, this upper class girl wanted to be friends with a quote "street rat" unquote. My lips pursed before twitching up into a genuine smile.

"I'm sure," a laugh followed my words, "and I'm sure I can convince you to call me by my first name by the end of the week."

She bit her lip and smiled sheepishly, her fingers still twiddling away. My hands reached out to pull her hands apart, a wry smile on my face.

"I'll help you work past that too." My hands dropped hers and I turned for the door, "I'm about to go bug my friend; would you like to come along?"

"Oh, I don't know…"

I threw a grin her way, "You might as well; if you're going to be my friend you'll end up being his too."

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

"We simply can't go into the boy's dorms, Fukui-san!" Honoka was fretting at my side, her hands clenched together under her chin. Her face was one of horror once she'd realized where I was planning on going.

"I don't see why not." Well, I did know why not, but that wasn't something I was really concerned about. People could think what they wanted.

A surprised huff escaped the brunette noble behind me, "It's improper Fukui-san!"

"Eh, it'll be fine," I waved my hand in dismissal, "If you don't want to go in, you can wait here. And just call me Tsubasa, Honoka-san."

She fidgeted for a moment, but agreed, telling me to be careful and come back soon; the commencement ceremony started in about an hour. The looks I'd received upon entering the building weren't surprising, not by a long shot. One boy – one of those snooty nobles – had even called out something along the lines of "Leave my abode and return to your hovel you trollop."

Pleasant fellow, he was.

There was another boy, one from a district farther out but closer than our own, that made a pass at me. He was currently on his knees, clutching his stomach, and whimpering as he attempted to suck in the breath that he'd lost once my fist had made impact.

"Tsubasa," Isamu had a somewhat amused look on his face from his spot in the doorway, "Don't beat up your fellow students."

"Oh, please. Not like you won't lose it at some point. Besides," I waved a nonchalant hand at the still doubled over boy, "not like he didn't deserve it."

Isamu rolled eyes and muttered what sounded like 'Of course he did' under his breath before pushing off the doorframe. A sandy blonde strand of hair fell in his face, one of his hands deftly pushing it back, "So what do you want."

My eyebrow rose, "Does 'commencement ceremony' ring a bell?"

He cursed and I laughed.

"Don't worry Isamu, we've still got time." I liked my finders behind my head as I turned, "But my roomie is waiting outside, so come socialize."

He snorted and I could practically feel his eyes roll, but he followed me anyways. Though he couldn't help but questioning me –

"You must like your roommate if you let her tag along. Not a noble?"

I hummed, "No, she is one, but not a very high class one."

"Aa," typical male grunt; not that I didn't do it too, "She must be pretty interesting too since, like I said, you actually let her tag along."

"She's shy," I sniggered, "Shy and formal. I'm gonna change that at least a little."

Speaking of my dear new roommate, she was now in sight as we exited the building. Honoka was sitting straight backed on a bench, her head tilted slightly down. If I had to guess, I'd say she felt awkward just sitting there like she was.

"Honoka-san!" She jumped a little and I laughed, Isamu chuckling slightly off to my side.

"Fukui-san," the girl's indigo eyes fluttered from me to Isamu, "Oh, you must be Fukui-san's friend."

Isamu's eyebrows rose upon hearing her address me formally and shot up even higher when she bowed in introduction.

"I'm Honoka Akiyama, it's nice to meet you."

"Aa, yeah," the blond scratched the back of his head, "The name's Isamu Ueda."

There was some stuttering, awkward conversation from the noble girl as we all moved off towards the grand hall for commencement; though the more she talked the less the stuttering came. So maybe she wouldn't be too hard to loosen up.

The tell-tale throat clearing caused all conversation in the hall to cease and for hundreds of sets of eyes to focus of the stage up front.

With this man's speech, a new chapter in our lives would begin.

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

**Would it surprise you if I said I already have the next two chapters written? Because I do, but I won't be posting the next chapter until at least chapter four finished. My goal is to keep two chapters ahead at all times, if not more.**

**How about some fun fact about me?**

**I'm horrified of needles.**

**I ran cross-country for six years.**

**I used to wear braces.**

**Tah-tah~!**


	2. Speak out, speak loud

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

**Speak out, speak loud.**

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

This first year was without a doubt the calmest year I've had within the Soul Society so far. Half a year down and not once have we had to steal food, run and hide, or fight against bandits. But with that in mind, it was also a fairly boring year considering the things Isamu and I had to go through throughout the year back in sixty-five.

"Tsu- Fukui-san!" We still hadn't broken Honoka's habit of referring to us by our last names, much to our chagrin, "Stop flicking paper at our seniors! It's rude!"

I snorted and ripped off another piece of paper to ball up.

"This isn't rude, but I can show you rude if you'd like." With that I flicked the small paper ball into a passing girl's hair.

A strangled gurgle came from my noble friend's direction as she helplessly watched said girl pass, the ball of paper clinging nicely to her hair. To my surprise – and delight – the moment I reached to rip another strip of paper, Honoka swatted my hand away with a stinging slap.

"Stop it."

I grinned, "So mean, Honoka-san. I'm bored, let me have some fun!"

"Why don't you do your homework," Honoka stressed, "That's what this paper was for in the first place!"

"Mmm, too late for that," Honoka shot me a befuddled look as I stood, "It's time for our next lesson! They're going to start us on flash step!"

This lesson was one I'd honest to goodness been waiting for. I loved speed, and I'm a fast runner as is, but with flash step I'd be _untouchable_.

Probably.

Maybe.

Honoka let out a rather improper sigh before getting up to follow me, steering me in the right direction when I started to veer off course. My dearest female friend didn't seem to understand my enthusiasm for learning flash step, just as I didn't understand her fascination with kidō. She just thought it would be simple, like kidō (bah-humbug, Honoka, bah-humbug).

The light but sharp sound of clapping brought my attention (and everyone else's) forward, "Alright everyone. My name is Mugen Kawarama and I'll be your Shunpo, or flash step, instructor."

Our classmates hushed, most with various looks of excitement on their faces as Instructor Kawarama continued explaining.

"The point of Shunpo, as you likely know," his eyes traveled over the whole group, "is to get from point A to point B in the least amount of steps.

"We do this by concentrating our spirit energy," a few gasps sounded in the crowd as he flashed from one side of the stage to the other, "And picturing where we want to go."

Before he continued on he had everyone separate into one line so we could – hopefully – flash forward without knocking into someone. Instructor Kawarama went into a little more detail, mostly about concentration, before ordering us to try.

One cocky kid attempted as soon as he said go, exclaiming something along the lines of 'This is no big deal. Easy.'

He ended up stumbling forward and face planting. We all laughed before being put back in order by the instructor and his assistant instructor.

A hush fell over us, only a few murmurs here and there as people either failed or partially moved. Honoka was one of the ones grumbling because she only stumbled slightly and jarred herself. I couldn't help but to snicker at her before concentrating on the task at hand.

I evened my breathing before looking forward to concentrate on a spot about ten meters ahead, near the instructors. With a nudge and push I concentrated some of my spirit energy in my legs, closing my eyes to steady myself before taking a step.

With a '_whoosh'_ and slight stumble I was about six or seven meters from my starting point; not where I intended to go, but good enough. A grin formed on my face as I noticed the disgruntled looks some of the others were giving me.

'_This is great,'_ I sniggered before looking to Honoka and waggling my eyebrows, _'I actually beat those snobby nobles at something.'_

"Well then," the somewhat deep voice of our instructor came from behind me, "I didn't expect someone to grasp it so well on their first shot."

I felt my face heat up a little bit in embarrassment and laughed, "I've really been looking forward to this, ya know?"

Hummed lightly in response, a faint smile gracing his face, "Well then, try to Shunpo back to where you started."

With a fist pump and quiet exclamation I acquiesced, flashing back into place and stumbling forward only slightly. Laughter bubbled forth from my lips as I continued to practice; good god was I going to be annoying the shit out of Isamu and Honoka by flashing around.

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

"Can you just stop?" Isamu drawled, jabbing me lightly in the back with the hilt of his Asauchi, "Your flash stepping everywhere is seriously annoying."

I sniggered before leaning against a tree, placing my hand on the hilt of my own Asauchi as Honoka sighed in relief to my right.

"Finally," She sagged slightly before hastily correcting her posture, "It's been over a month since our Shunpo lesson and you haven't stopped since."

"I did to," I tsked, my fingers running over my Asauchi's lacquered scabbard, "I stopped the day we got our Asauchis!"

It was true, even if it was only for a short while I had laid off Shunpo in favor of practicing with my Asauchi. While it would be a long time before any of us learned the name of our Zanpakutō we still needed the practice in order to handle our swords properly. Isamu, regrettably, still beat the tar out of me when we practiced (damn his advanced classes to hell). On the other hand I was still towards the top when it came to hand-to-hand combat.

"Oh look," to my left a boy leaned against my tree, a sneer on his face, "If it isn't the Rukon scum and the slumming noble."

Honoka stiffened and colored at the comment and Isamu's eyes narrowed dangerously. My own face morphed into a scowl.

"If it isn't some cocky ass noble brats," I remarked, not turning my head and only looking his way, "Go back to getting yourself pampered, would you?"

The boy's face darkened, "Why don't you go crawl back under a rock? There are Captains visiting today and they don't need to see disgusting Rukon trash walking around."

"Oh, that's right," Honoka muttered nervously beside me, her voice too low for the offending boy to hear, "Some captains are coming to observe sixth year classes."

I scoffed and reached back to tighten my ponytail, "So what? Do you seriously think none of them are from outer districts?"

Isamu spoke up before the boy could respond, "Seriously. And even if they're not do you think they'd discriminate?"

The boy's jaws snapped shut with a click and we ignored him as Isamu made a suggestion to go get some food. As we started to move on the boy and his forgotten comrades started with calls of indignation and my eyes tightened as my head jerked back.

"What now, scum?" The boy sneered, his cohorts snickering as he tugged harshly on the end of my ponytail again, "This is almost like a leash, isn't it?"

I stayed silent as my anger built up, but oddly enough I felt calm. The boy pulled my hair more, jerking my head back and forth and Isamu snarled in anger, only causing the boy and his friends to laugh more.

"What's wrong? Does it bother you that I'm treating her like what she is?" He pulled my ponytail back hard and my lip twitched, "It's so soft too, must take pride in it huh? Trying to make yourself look pretty?"

By this point a small crowd of students from various years had gathered with some rather large spirit energies somewhere at the back of the crowd. The boy holding my hair continued on but by this point I was tuning him out, my hand reaching for the hilt of my Asauchi.

"What's this?" He guffawed, jerking my hair back again, "Is the street rat going to fight back? Trying to cut me? I –"

"Why the _hell_ would I bother to stain my blade with _your_ blood?" A startled sound came from behind me as I unsheathed my Asauchi and sheared off the majority of my hair in one movement, "Do you think I'd be concerned over my _hair_?"

He stumbled over words as the crowd around us quieted.

"Yeah, I'm from District Sixty-Five. Yeah, I'm not a noble," I sheathed my Asauchi with a light click, "But I'm not here to be popular or to worry over beauty. I'm here to learn to fight so I can protect those who are important to me.

"So get your head out of your noble ass and grow up," I moved to leave, "Your family will only get you so far in life. And a name most certainly won't stop a hollow from killing you."

Isamu barked out a laugh as I passed by before turning to follow me, "Be glad she handled this and not me you pricks. Leave my sister the hell alone from here on out."

There was some more shuffling behind me and I assumed it was Honoka moving to follow us as the crowd slowly started to disperse behind us. After a moment of silence Honoka burst –

"How could you do something so reckless, Tsubasa! You could have been hurt, it might have been more than just some hair! And your hair Tsubasa! You have to let me fix your hair!"

I looked over my shoulder, my lips curling up at the corners, "…did you just call me Tsubasa?"

Isamu started laughing as a rather undignified and disgruntled gurgle escaped the brunette, "Th-That…Is that all you got from that?!"

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

**Elsewhere**

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

A rather loud cackle escaped the busty woman, her hand reaching out to smack the tall, somewhat portly man beside her, "That kid's got some spunk, huh?"

The man grumbled and rubbed the spot where she'd hit him, "Please control yourself, Captain."

"Oh, man up. You're a lieutenant, aren't you?" The woman turned, her long purple hair swishing through the air and her hand waving at her lieutenant over her shoulder, "Let's go, we've got to scout out some potential members from the sixth years."

A rather loud sigh followed, "Yes, Captain Shihōin."

**[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []**

**Yeah, so, if any of you happen to read my other stories I'm afraid to say it'll be another week or two before I update even one of them. Finals are coming up and my grandfather passed away Monday, so I'm out of sorts right now. I'm just glad I'd already finished this chapter some time ago.**

**Peace out dearies~!**


End file.
